Neck ornament

In the case of the object Oz 197, bird bones (c. 2 cm long) and small snail shells are alternately strung on a string. This may be a piece from the Forster Collection, for which however there is no entry in the Register. The neck ornament Oz 220 consists of the following elements which are strung on a string: a white, speckled shell disc with a diameter of 5.4 cm, perforated coconut and shell discs, small shells, three flat tortoiseshell pieces (possibly broken-off fish-hook points), five c. 2-2.8 cm long teeth (molars), two larger yellow teeth as well as a white one, 4 cm long tooth (possibly a dolphin tooth), an elongated piece of mother-of-pearl, and three white long bones. These long bones are designated on the file card as feather quills; this is however evidently incorrect. Anderson (in: Beaglehole 1967, lllb: 931) observed that wing and leg bones of birds were worn as necklaces.

It is not evident from the inventory that the piece Oz 220 belongs to the Cook/Forster Collection. It is not mentioned in the Forster List, but may instead be a piece which came to Göttingen in some other way. Tonga may be considered the provenance; a very similar piece is identified for Tonga under one of Humphrey’s entries. Insa Wendt

Sources

Beaglehole, John Cawte, The Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyages of Discovery The Voyage of the Resolution and Discovery 1776-1780, Hakluyt Society, Extra Series, 36, 1 u. 2. vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1955-1967 IIIa and IIIb.